Why oh WHY did I wait so damn long to shoot in RAW format?!?!?
For those of you not familiar with photography, RAW files are the alternative to JPEGs or rather JPEGs serve as a 'short-cut' to RAW files. Whenever you shoot in JPEG format your images are automatically 'adjusted' by an internal mechanism in the camera so they can be printed/stored/shared immediately. RAW files, on the other hand, are exactly what their name suggests--they are 'pure', 'unprocessed', 'unaltered' files--much like negatives in film. Because most of the work has already been done for you in JPEG format you limit and constrain many of your creative possibilites--most importantly in regards to COLOR!
Now many of you may be wondering, if the difference between RAW and JPEG files is so significant, why then did I ignore it all these years?!?! As I try to find a legitimate excuse, the only truly honest answer I can give is I was being a big stubborn baby!!! Jpegs were what I was used to, they were easy, they were convenient and most importantly they weren't intimidating!! I'd take the picture, play with it in an editing program like photoshop and that was it. Not too bad considering Photoshop has amazing editing tools but I shoot using sunlight and natural lighting can be extremely unpredictable. Should the lift shift due to a cloud, shadow, etc. you must quickly adjust the settings on the camera to get the right exposure. Often times I'd snap a photo without making the proper adjustments because I didn't want to miss a 'moment'. I'd get home, load my images onto my computer and find that INCREDIBLE shots were DAMAGED because they were either too light/too dark. I'd make painstaking attempts to save the images using every bell and whistle photoshop had to offer but to no avail and eventually I'd have to chuck them off into a LOST folder.
This past weekend, when I was booked to shoot NYC DJ Jonathan Casali, I decided to take a chance and shoot in RAW format....HOLY MOLY MACARONI---WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!!!!!! Not only was I able to easily save some GREAT shots due to 'bad' exposures but I was also able to 'enhance' the 'good' ones by introducing some interesting color schemes. A GREAT lesson was learned this past week...DON'T be afraid of the unknown, NEVER rely on convenience & ALWAYS go for the gusto---you can never fail if you PUSH yourself beyond your comfort zone, you can only grow!!!
Until next time,
Miss Sally
